After months of anticipation, and many hours spent watching lucky celebrities and YouTube personalities getting their hands on the game (even Snoop Dogggot to play it before us!), the Battlefield 1 open beta arrived last week. Finally, the fans of the franchise had the chance to play a multiplayer teaser mode for the highly anticipated first person shooter, several weeks before its October 21st release date for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

Now before reading this, it's important to note that the opinions shared by players of the beta may not be applicable to the final game, as the whole point of the beta was to tweak and further develop Battlefield 1 before its release date! But with that said, what did players really think about the Battlefield 1 beta?

Battlefield 1: Brimming With Battlefield Brilliance, Or Another Casualty Of War?

Within the beta, players were let loose upon the 'Sinai Desert' multiplayer map, a sprawling wasteland of sand dunes and destruction, with a mixture of built up areas for tight infantry combat, and large open areas for vehicular warfare on a massive scale!

Bringing a train to a dogfight... Sourced from: www.battlefieldseries.de

First of all, the good news! Overall, the vast majority of players have been having a very positive experience with the Battlefield 1 beta, with many voicing their opinions about it on twitter.

One particularly popular feature of the beta was the inclusion of an armored train, which steam-rolled its way through the desert, wreaking havoc upon the cluster of crucial objectives in the center of the map using its heavy artillery cannons. Believe me, this thing really puts the 'Tank' back in 'Thomas the Tank Engine'!

Personally, I believe that the armored train is a brilliant feature of the Battlefield 1 beta, and I myself have been able to claw back a number of impressive victories for my team with the help of its brute force approach to objective domination! Though the cannons can't bombard every objective, it does still allow a team to take control of a number of crucial areas, and with effective teamwork, it really can change the tide of a battle.

There are also 'Elite Classes' in the beta, which include the 'Sentry', the 'Tank Hunter' and the 'Flame Trooper'. The 'Flame Trooper' wields a deadly flamethrower, allowing him to burn enemies to a crisp. The 'Sentry' utilizes a powerful water-cooled machine gun, and is clad in bullet resistant armor. And finally, the 'Tank Hunter' dominates at long range with a '1918 Tankgewehr' rifle, which can take out tanks, planes and deal out one hit kills to enemies at long distance. Generally, fans have been very positive about these 'Elite Classes', and their ability to support infantry troops in smaller assaults on conquest objectives has been a welcome addition to the Battlefield 1 beta.

Seriously, the Tank Hunter class in @battlefield 1 is my jam. The Tank Gewehr rifle is a thing of terrible beauty.

However, although the armored train and 'Elite Classes' were major talking points for beta players, and both were features which players generally seemed to enjoy, the main issue raised by many fans are the similarities between Battlefield 1's Beta, and Dice's previous game, Battlefront.

I really want to enjoy Battlefield 1 but I just can`t get into it. The game just feels really weird more like Battlefront than a BF game.

This has been a divisive issue among the Battlefield community, with many fans raising the point that even though Battlefield 1 and Battlefront share the same engine, they are still fundamentally different games.

Battlefront and Battlefield 1 are two different Games entirely, they use the same aspects of the engine but srsly, stop comparing them.

The similarities between Battlefield 1 and Battlefront could eventually turn out to be a very positive aspect of the game. The main issue players had with Battlefront was that it lacked depth. With only a handful of multiplayer modes and a limited number of maps, the game quickly became stale, and those who played the Battlefield 1 beta are concerned that Dice may repeat the same mistakes.

However, Battlefield 1, simply judging by the beta, has tried to take the positive aspects of Battlefront and build upon them, whilst abandoning features which plagued Dice's last project. For example, 'Elite Classes' are reminiscent of the 'Hero classes' from Battlefront, whilst 'Behemoth' vehicles such as the armored train provide a way for players to even the odds, in a similar way to the 'AT-AT pilot' power up. Players shouldn't be concerned that Battlefield 1 will simply be a re-skin of Battlefront, especially not at an early stage; after all, this is just the beta!

A Glorious Victory?

It seems that for the most part, the Battlefield 1 beta has been a triumphant return to battle for fans of the franchise and new players alike. Brutal and immersive combat, combined with all-out warfare on a massive scale, has undoubtedly given Battlefield 1 a unique edge on its competitors; whilst the choice to venture back to the battlefields of World War One has been a big hit with the majority of players, who have generally become tired of a market saturated with futuristic first person shooter games.

So overall, the Battlefield 1 beta has definitely given players a glimpse into what is shaping up to be a glorious victory for the Battlefield franchise, and this is one war I'll most certainly be enlisting in!

To see more of what's to come in the final game, check out this trailer!

Poll

What did you think of the 'Battlefield 1' beta?

Sign me up, I'm going to war!

It was ok, it could have been better.

Meh, I'm gonna be sitting this one out I think...

Hey! Thanks for checking out this article! Let me know what you thought in the comments below, or feel free to tweet me at @PeachyBaws, it'd be awesome to know what you think!